Another reason I prefer the NAS-to-Streamer solution is that I use the same stereo files for multiroom and outdoor sound and for when I am driving in my car (using Plexamp with iCarplay). I also have surround sound on the same same NAS. For DSD though, I use Twonky server running on a PC to send DSD surround to a Sony Bluray that passes it to a Marantz surround system. But the old Twonky does not like NAS drives that I can tell. So the DSD surround is sitting on an SSD in the PC. But, otherwise, all files are on the NAS, whether or not PS Audio stereo gear can use them. I am not looking for PS Audio to solve all this though as it has already been four years waiting for an audiophile (not PC) device that will pass stereo DSD from my NAS to my PS Audio DAC via I2S HDMI.
This is a good question. No idea if the Octave Server will include a CD drive and provide this as a feature. While convenient, ripping CDs can be its own personal thing and religion. Probably needs, and probably has, its own thread somewhere but let me expand on this just a bit (pun intended). When ripping a CD you are concerned with two things: reading the bits off the disc accurately and storing those bits into containers organized in a way you’ll be happy with.
Reading accurately… there are various ways to do this but I find most of the “vault” based all-in-one ripper / streamers prefer speed over accuracy and don’t give you any options in this area. If all of your CDs are pristine this may not be an issue. But, I prefer running something like dbPoweramp where I have full control, use accuraterip, and decide what to do if there is an issue.
Container… There is some debate that what file format, what container, you use matters. Personally, I believe bit perfect is bit perfect so I like FLAC as its the most portable and supports lots of metadata including embedded artwork. If you’re an Apple user you may like ALAC. If you’re a purist you may like WAV or AIFF. The nice thing about using the Server is often times you don’t have a choice; it just works. Us control freaks don’t like not having a choice so we want to decide how we’re storing the files. Again, use a computer and make the choice.
Then there is the question of organization. Artist/Title/Track works for some, others like to organize by genre, and one time there was this awesome fella who organized autobiographically. Some Servers, like Roon don’t care (actually Roon ignores the file path) and Servers use the path to help identify what artist / album the track belongs to.
A Server with ripping capabilities is nice because you rip and forget. But some of us like a lot more control and use a computer. And, there are plenty of software on computer that give you rip and forget functionality too. Also, I’ve not even touched on the issue of metadata… that is making sure the files created from the CD have the right artist, track titles, credits, etc. CDs don’t contain this info so the ripping software / Server needs a way to figure it out (whole other discussion on how that works) or you have to type it all in or at least fix it if the ripping software gets it wrong.
One other note… start ripping now. It’s a time consuming process. Some 1000 CDs took me like half a year. If you rip to something like FLAC and have a fairly standard way of laying out the directory structure then when your Server arrives you’ll be ready to go. I’d much rather spend 6 months listening to my collection on a new Server than ripping CDs into it when it arrives. Storage… use a USB drive or set-up some network storage. But also remember hard drives fail so whatever you do for storage get 2 and keep them in sync. Good luck.
Should, yes. Again, early product announcement with nothing confirmed but PS would have really had to have lost their marbles to not support control from iDevices.
Not exactly but yes. Octave Server and Roon are both servers. Unless you want to manage and use two different library management platforms, and most don’t, pick one or the other. That is use Roon or use Octave Server but not both. If you decide Roon is your library management you don’t want Octave Server you just want AirLens. Octave Server will not “run Roon”. That is no PS Audio product can become a Roon Core. It just supports being a Roon endpoint and, the Roon world, that requires you supply your own Core.
Innuous does a unique thing in that you can run the Innuous servers using the Innuous Server software OR you can make them Roon Cores. It’s a neat trick. Very few other Servers provide this option.
The problem is I2S, a proprietary format, not the fault of other server and streamer manufacturers. Innuos servers can send out DSD files, no doubt most other audio servers can as well, which you could convert from usb to I2S.
One note of caution here. Roon does not touch or modify the files themselves as that’s a core principal of Roon. Meaning, any metadata changes you make in Roon only ever live in Roon. Move your files to another server and those changes are =, effectively, lost.
The ability to make metadata changes to the files from the Server directly is a feature one should consider. Every Server handles this differently.
And then there is disc rot… see Wikipedia… my original 1980s Roxy Music, The Doors, David Bowie and King Crimson CDs from when there were only two factories in the world making CDs are not what they used to be… or so a neighbour tells me after spinning them up on his machines. I also have lots of DG HvK Classical from then, as well as Clifford Brown and Max Roach Jazz CDs. Although I love my FLAC library… also because I have Australian and European versions with different track orders that I grew up with… not the US ones… I would not recommend starting a CD ripping journey today. Stream it with a PS Audio AirLens (eventually and hopefully this year finally)!
That’s a very good point.
I actually also play music from my NAS in the car or on holidays and let Jriver convert it on the fly to MP3 therefore.
If I had an audio server hardware, I might also be able access its drive by network with another server SW and use it as pure storage. Would be interesting if this is possible for later server users.
That is correct. When I switch from using Roon to using Innuos 2.0 I am switching from using the Roon Core database to the data attached when I ripped the CD or downloaded the file. In practice this causes me no problems.
@ipeverywhere do you know how much data/storage space is required for the 1000 CD’s that you have ripped? I’m estimating that I have about 800 CD’s. I’d want to get enough storage space for them, as well as for some future expansion.
FWIW, I have over a thousand albums ripped or downloaded to my iMac (which plays the role of server in my system). 99+% of these are stored as AIFF files and I have a few dozen “H-Rez” albums as well.
Even using these uncompressed, large file types, my music takes up less than 50% of my 1.02TB of storage in my iMac “fusion” drive.
Hope this helps some.
Cheers.
Figure 700 Mbytes per CD. Figure approximately 1350 CDs to 1Tb.
I’d have to go look it up which I can’t do right now.
You should plan on 600MB per CD for uncompressed storage. That’s based on 60 minutes of music per CD. A lot of CDs are less than that and FLAC or ALAC will use less than that.
With FLAC at level 8 that will get down to around 300MB per album with 16-bit files. Before playback, the FLAC files are restored to full-sized, with all the same bits as WAV before they are fed to the DAC. DSD in stereo may run 2 to 3GB per album in stereo, and 5 to 6GB in surround. FLAC in 24-96 will be half the size of DSD.
I’m grateful, touched even, by the generosity of the members of this forum in volunteering their time and expertise to my personal investigations. I’m also impressed by the intelligence and depth of experience that those answers reveal.
IME, this forum is the most civil and lucid hobbyist gathering of its kind.
BTW, “HTFE Home Theater for Everyone” on Facebook is actively administered and also prides itself on civility and helpfulness. Zero tolerance for incivility and trolling.
Cheers.
@Carousel and @jazznut, I’m intrigued by your use of music files from your NAS in your car. Do I understand correctly that you copy select music files from the NAS onto an iPhone (or other phone) and then just use one of the software players/connectivity solutions you mention to play tunes from your iPhone through your built-in auto head unit?
Behind my question is a secondary goal of my massive CD digitization project: I’d like my library (or a large portion of it) to be portable (or duplicated) so that I can play it in a camper van (without picking and choosing a playlist that fits on my iPhone). I’m assuming that whatever server/streaming set up I devise, there must be a method of backing up the music files to another networked SSD that could facilitate portability or transfer. I want a music-in-a-van solution that doesn’t rely on internet connectivity for streaming.
@ipeverywhere and @stevensegal, yes, there is no time like the present to begin the process of ripping the CD collection to FLAC files, especially since there is no guarantee that PSA will facilitate that process with their Octave server. I can’t imagine doing that in any way other than using a product like an Innuos Zenwhatever, even though any ravages from disc rot may go uncorrected. I would do this using the free Innuos 2.0 platform, settling for whatever metadata it ascribes, and feeding the built-in ripper (sort of an amuse-bouche) whatever CD I happen to play next on the PSA transport.
I’d back up the Innuos drive to an external disc drive, which would also facilitate portability (for camper van purposes, posted seperately).
Although I’d rather subscribe to Tidal or Qobuz than pay for a Roon license, if I switch to a future PSA solution I presume Roon (or Octave) would see the music file set and generate a new metadata file.
Does that sound like a viable plan? Any refinements you can offer?
Check out dBpoweramp Music Converter (dBpoweramp). It is the preferred ripping software by many on this forum. I use an Apple USB disc drive and dBpoweramp to rip my CDs to my hard drive. This software has a lot of features to enable tagging via the Internet (or to add your own notes/metadata) and ensure “bit-perfect” transfers of data.
FWIW.
Cheers.
Plus it is dirt cheap for the feature set offered.
dBPoweramp looks interesting, and I do have an M1 MacMini and USB Superdrive, to that could be one approach. But it leads me to wonder, since I listen mostly to classical music and need to maintain the coherence of multi-movement compositions (vs. a bunch of individual “songs”), would an approach like dBPoweramp ripping vs. Innuos 2.0 ripping preserve the integral linkage and ordering of separate files? Or would I end up with an unmanageable accumulation of decomposed CD’s, an admixture of Puccini arias and Led Zeppelin?